Brea scores 17 off the bench to lead No. 21 Dayton in 80-66 rout of Davidson

Feb 28, 2024, 03:10 am

DAYTON, Ohio -- — Koby Brea came off the bench to score 17 points, including 5-for-9 shooting from 3-point range, and No. 21 Dayton bounced back from a road loss with an 80-66 rout of Davidson on Tuesday night.

Enoch Cheeks led five other players in double figures with 15 points for Dayton, which went 12 of 28 on 3-pointers. Leading scorer DaRon Holmes II had a low-key first half but finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

“Kudos to Deuce because he wasn't pouting,” said guard Kobe Elvis, who had 11 points. “It just shows how good of a teammate he was today. He wasn’t upset about nothing. He takes up a lot of real estate every time he’s rolling to the basket and trusted us to make the right play.”

The 71-67 loss by the Flyers to George Mason last Wednesday dropped them five spots in the AP Top 25 and one game out of first place in the Atlantic 10. But well-rested Dayton (22-5, 12-3) had five days off to get ready for this one, and it showed early.

After going down 6-0 in the first minute, the more physical Flyers jumped on Davidson (15-13, 5-10), mounting a 24-4 run over 8:27 in the middle of the first half. Brea scored 14 in the half, including 4-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc, and the Flyers led 40-21 at the break.

The Wildcats closed within 13 early in the second half but never really got back in the game.

“I thought defensively we got great efforts tonight across the board,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said. “I thought offensively, the ball movement in the first half was as good as we've had in quite some time. I thought we really shared the ball. When you look at the stat sheet and you see six guys in double figures, I think that's indicative of what this team is capable of.”

Connor Kochera led Davidson with 18 points, and Reed Bailey added 12.

BIG PICTURE

Davidson: The Wildcats couldn't climb out of the first-half hole. They shot 38% and were dominated by Holmes and his Flyers teammates on the boards.

“They really turned up their aggression and their intensity, and we did not respond,” Davidson coach Matt McKillop said.

Dayton: The Flyers had lost two of four. They're still the only team in the Atlantic 10 ranked in the AP Top 25 and are No. 20 in the NCAA evaluation rankings. They're eyeing their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2017. All of Dayton's losses have come away from home.

UP NEXT

Davidson: Will host UMass on Saturday.

Dayton: Plays at Loyola Chicago on Friday night.

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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball